Spring 2011 Overall Review

Gucci, Hermes ,Valentino -My favorite collections of this season.

The beauty of not being owned by a corporation is I can speak from the heart. I have no fear of loosing magazine ad sales from design houses who are angered by a scathing review of their latest collection.

After viewing Prada's Spring collection, I was convinced we were in for another dismal season of designers dropping to the lowest common denominator while desperately trying to find a trend that would stick with consumers. In 2010 many of the collections were senseless and lacked direction. They seemed to be a mirror image of the world economy.

After looking over twenty one collections (with a hundred plus still to look at), the majority were actually wearable. Many of the designers featured beautiful details. Of course there were still mediocre collections, but that is not unusual. The common ground I found throughout the Spring 2011 collections was a return to the earlier designs that made these fashion houses great in the first place. Yet there was a definite fresh look throughout. It is hard to understand why so many of these fashion houses had deviated from the silhouettes and cuts that made them famous in the first place. Gucci, Valentino, and Hermes get my vote as favorite collections, and Stella McCartney, Viktor and Rolf, and Hussein Chalayan my least favorite. Prada is still winning as the worst collection of the season for me.

Stella McCartney, Viktor&Rolf, Hussein Chalayan

-After Prada these are my least favorite collections for Spring 2011.

When money is tight most people look inward for comfort and safety. Classic design was key this season. Costume frivolity is not for recession times. It took a few years for many of these designers to get the clue. The big trend I would say is saturated colors coupled with barely there colors.

Ready to Wear means just that. Fortunately I'm happy to say that there should be some wonderful and interesting pieces coming to the stores for Spring.

Prada Spring 2011 Industrial Uniform meets Animation

Vibrant color is definitely on my radar for Spring 2011. The primetime show I design for, "The Defenders", is all about color and flash. I'm liberally using saturated colors on the characters, which is a big switch from the years of black and gray that has dominated TV dramas.

For inspiration, I was excited to see what was being shown for the Spring 2011 runway collections. Prada was on my radar as the first show of the season to blog about. Clearly Miuccia Prada forgot she was designing fashion for real people, not a Disney animation film or industrial uniforms. Her collection was a bold mess of nonsensical designs. The saturated colors, with bold stripes, and wallpaper prints, completed the animated look. In the real world, wearing any of these outfits, would dash all hopes of attracting a mate. Hard to imagine her inspiration for this collection was the sexy Josephine Baker .

Can you guess the Prada 2011 collection from the $39.99 catalogue uniform ?

What's adorable for animated characters doesn't translate to the runway-

Dinner ? Work? Clubbing? Sleeping? Working out? Out for Drinks? Lunch? Ok- scratch all of that. Let's try - Fly trap ? Bee attractant ? Wallpaper? Beauty and The Beast?

For that very important interview -would you wear a Power suit or Power sack?

Other than the hair do, I can't imagine Josephine Baker wearing any of these.

Thank you Prada for giving me the first humorous look of the Spring 2011 runway.

Autumn colors 2010

Labor day 2010 felt like the perfect day to discuss Autumn fashion and what is currently showing up in the stores . A recent article in the LA Times stated longer skirts were the trend for Fall a sure sign of a slow economy. On a foray through the stores I found saturated colors filling the racks a pleasant surprise. This is similar to what was shown at the the Spring Mercedes Benz Fashion Week for Autumn 2010 . On that runway an explosion of looks short and long skirts as well as uneven hemlines were the highlights. (Reference my Mercedes Benz blogs 4/12 ; 4/13 ; 4/14 ; & 4/20 ) This was a reflection of an unsure but optimistic look at the future and economy. It was a nice change from the somber dark colors and long skirts which were shown on the European runways.

Unfortunately the world economy is still in an upheaval, and economists predict yet a possible second economic slump. With money tight, and Americans saving more than they are spending, fashion trends will continue to remain flat as I predicted in my May blog on economics. Refashioning old pieces from the closet will have to satisfy the fashionistas on a tight budget. Rit dye, did you hear that ? Perhaps bathtub dying will make a comeback.

Americans are generally an optimistic group, so I believe the strong saturated colors will be popular. The intensity is still dark and respectful of the fragile economy , but the color is fresh and not as depressing as the overall use of black and brown that the Europeans used on their runway.

Rethink, Restore, and Restyle, the Wedding Dress Tradition

 When Chelsea Clinton marries Marc Mezvinsky she  won't be wearing her mother's wedding dress, (circa 1975) for her nuptials, however that's of no surprise. Women rarely wear their mother's wedding dress anymore. However the bygone tradition of saving a wedding dress and handing it down to the next generation is still a wonderful idea. That's where restyling comes into play.
In this era of reduce and reuse perhaps it's time to rethink this lost tradition. Below I have included a photo timeline of wedding dresses dating back to 1900.

(Wedding dresses from '60's, 70's and '80's )

With so many wedding dresses boxed, preserved and in limbo, what happens as styles change, daughters are two or three sizes larger than their mother, or the children turn out to be boys not girls? There is also a negative aspect to wearing the same dress mom did if she is divorced from dad. Restyling a dress can be a wonderful way of preserving the sentimental aspect of mom's dress and also rescuing the dress from a lifetime of deep storage. Diamond rings are restyled all the time, why not the wedding dress?

(30's, 40's, 50's )

The current style for wedding dresses is the strapless gown. Some dresses can easily be cut to create this look. For other gowns, removing the sleeves or changing the neckline can dramatically update the look. In the case of a less formal wedding, the dress can be shortened to the knee. The remaining fabric should be enough to create a flower girl's dress. For those who want a complete change in the look, removing the lace and using it on a newly designed dress is another way to retain the heirloom sentiment.

(1900-'20's )

I have used all the above techniques at one time or another and even dyed wedding dresses from thrift shops to create completely new looks. Fun, creative and smart.

Weddings Yesterday and Today

June has arrived, and thousands of brides are preparing for their big day. Weddings are often associated with tension and stress. With today's blog, I want to look at the way our ancestors celebrated matrimony. In those bygone eras, marriages, good or bad did last till "death do you part". Now five years of marriage is considered a milestone.

At a relative's home recently, I was looking at the photo of my great, great, grandmother's wedding day, which reminded me how much the social event has changed. In times past, there was a more practical view of the wedding, unless of course you were from royalty or a very wealthy family. Queen Victoria made a statement by wearing a white wedding dress for her nuptials to Albert in 1840. (Far left photo above) This was at a time when many woman wore their best dress in the closet and the whole ceremony was a solemn event. Victoria's dress began a fashion of the white dress symbolizing purity and virginity. Today very few brides make it the alter in that condition. Before the 20th century, the idea of wearing a dress just once was a ridicules notion. Perhaps our ancestors were on to something. During WWII many weddings were rushed, as thousand soldiers were shipped off to war. Brides often wore a simple suit. (Middle photo above)

My great, great grandmother was six feet tall and she made her wedding dress . The sepia tone photo only reveals the dress was not white. From what I have been told the color was blue, assuming our family folklore is correct. I don't have the exact date of the wedding but, the style of her bustle wedding dress suggests, it was post Civil War, early 1870. Clearly Queen Victoria's white wedding dress trend had yet to take hold here in the U.S. some thirty years later. In the 1920's young women celebrated their freedom by wearing short dresses. (Far right photo above) The 1950's was a turning point in the direction of wedding dresses. During this era, a dress dedicated solely to the occasion became the norm .

For the modern wedding now, spending $15,000 or more on a wedding dress is not uncommon. But for those who would rather invest their money toward a home or perhaps a lavish honeymoon, on the other end of the spectrum, there are stores such as JCrew which offer beautiful and sophisticated silk wedding dresses starting at around $ 300 . (See two left photos above)

Wedding veils for those who want one, are another costly addition to the wedding ensemble. E-how ( www.ehow.com/video_4755041_make-own-wedding-veil.html ) has a video on making your own. But if I were a bride now I would consider finding a beautiful necklace that could be worn as a head piece and nix the veil. Later the necklace can be worn for other occasions.

Necklaces for the hair - www.tigerlillyjewelry.com

Wedding customs 1850-1950- www.squidoo.com/weddingtraditions

History of the white wedding dress- www.fromtimespast.com/wedding.htm

Native American Algonquin wedding www.manataka.org/page348.html

Sheer Mistakes On The Celebrity Red Carpet

(Click Photo To Enlarge)

In my blog: Valentino -Hope Springs Eternal 2010, I said "Already I have visions of inebriated celebrities fueling TMZ or the cover of Enquirer by letting it all hang out."

Clearly Liza Minelli (on the left) needs help on how to wear sheers . Wearing the silicone stick-on bra under sheer fabric does not work-ever . It is not meant to be seen. The ankle boots under the sheer pants look like black socks and make her ankle look heavy. Liza has been in the business too long to make these kinds of mistakes. With modern technology at our finger tips, it's easy to take a quick photo with your camera flash-on and double check how you will look. (When the flash is on, it will reveal sheerness that is not apparent to the naked eye).

Jessica Szohr looked fantastic and wore the sheer look with class. (photo on the right) Perhaps Liza could lessons from Jessica.

Slava Zaitsev Fall/Winter 2010 Turbans and Tweeds

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Slava Zaitsev obviously has a flare for drama. From what I can see, his 2010 collection for men and women has elements of Lawrence of Arabia, Turkish Whirling Dervish, Dior's New Look 1948, 1950's chunky tweeds and large buttons, and dramatic 1930's turban hats. (see bottom row middle to right five photos)

With the men's line, although mostly monochromatic in tone, the layers were well put together, and very appealing . Slava's women's line, the loose fitting chunky tweeds, add weight onto the body frame. I would prefer to see them used in more flattering and fitted silhouettes. But I live in weight obsessed, sunny California not Russia.